Roland SRX-12 expansion board

[Floyd Tatum]

Richard, The Rhodes are pretty jumpy. I'm just enamored by the tone and I forgive it. If Roland follows Yamaha's lead and introduces eight velo layers in the future I think you should be able to smooth them out considerably.

 

Busch.

 

I've been waiting for the last 17 years for the manufacturers to solve this problem by adding more layers. Maybe in another 17 years, 8 layers will become the norm. I'll be dead by then, but what the hey.

[niacin]

The SRX-12 rhodes have more vintage character and more girth than the GEM rhodes. The GEM rhodes on the other hand has no velocity switching and a greater more playable dynamic range. In comparison to either of the them the rhodes in the Electro sound thin.

[burningbusch]

Both instruments have a bit of jumpiness to them, and I couldn't live with that; though perhaps it is more controllable on the Scarbee. Roland's own demos for the SRX-12 are lush as is to be expected from that company, but closer listening reveals the flaws.

 

The jumpiness that I'm referring to (I know Floyd is as well) is noticable velocity switch points heard when you repeatedly strike the same note. The tone of the various layers aren't well matched or there are too few layers, hence the tone jumps. This is distracting to the player. It would be impossible to determine poor velocity switching from my demo as I'm not doing repeated notes. In jazz phrasing I want notes to pop out when accented. Perhaps I accent more than your average player. I don't know nor care, it's how I play. I think both Scarbee and the SRX show a good degree of tonal and amplitude variation on the accented notes. I would not want a compressed sound where the tone changes but the volume does not. When playing jazz, the instrument would feel dead.

 

Of any sampled Rhodes, Scarbee, by far, does the best job when it comes to velocity switch points. NI's Elektrik Piano are some of the worst.

 

Busch.

[burningbusch]

Richard, The Rhodes are pretty jumpy. I'm just enamored by the tone and I forgive it. If Roland follows Yamaha's lead and introduces eight velo layers in the future I think you should be able to smooth them out considerably.

 

Busch.

 

I've been waiting for the last 17 years for the manufacturers to solve this problem by adding more layers. Maybe in another 17 years, 8 layers will become the norm. I'll be dead by then, but what the hey.

 

Of course you know the answer

 

http://purgatorycreek.com/img/george.jpg

 

Busch.

[ProfD]

Busch, you just could not resist, huh?

 

It ain't right man. Especially to every facsimile in the game. D*mn.

[MortenJ1642607708]

I'm actually curious about the new module as well.

http://www.roland.com/products/en/SonicCell/features.html

 

Do you think the SRX cards would sound as good as they do in the 700sx in the new box?

 

Here is a Video from the Msuikmesse SonicCell will be from 20.min with some sounds like New piano(He say it is from RD 700 SX),Rhodes and Jon Lord's Organ.

http://media.eskildsen.dk/eskildsen/RolandFrankfurt-1.wmv

I also head it should have a updated Fantom engine with 600 new multi samples.

[Kayvon]

I don't suffer from the jumpiness people are talking about on the SRX-12 EP1. I've tweaked a preset slightly and I basically play to the velocity layers. Yes that only gives me four different timbres to play with but I think that it's enough to be expressive with. Maybe the fourth layer is a bit of a leap in tone but it's useful that it sticks out when you dig in. I've not really made a satisfactory Wurly or EP2 patch yet.

 

I'm using an Kawai MP9500 to control the SRX-12 which has a user tailored velocity curve and I think that must help.

 

Comparing the SRX-12 EP1 to the Electro Rhodes, what wins it for me is the SRX-12 just has more weight to the notes which makes it more satisfying to play. Also the Electro Rhodes have too much release for my liking. A reservation I have about the SRX-12 is that it runs the line between lo-fi character and just not enough hi-definition although I think this is Rolands family sound character.

[Mark Schmieder]

The equation changes today, as NI has released version 1.5 of Elektrik Piano, which is a complete reworking of the sound engine, presets, and programmability and sound design.

 

I think I registered Komplete 3 right before the 11 September 2006 cutoff date for getting this update for free, but perhaps Komplete 4 Update licensees are also considered to be in this category.

 

At any rate, if I have to pay and it's under $30 to upgrade, I will probably do that tonight, based on NI's descriptions of what they have done to improve playability, cohesion, timbre, and note interplay. NI usually gets it right by the third rev of anything.

 

If that doesn't work out, I should revisit the Scarbee libraries, which I think I remember being revved since I last listened to their samples (which I thought at the time sounded rather static and uninspiring, whilst nevertheless having good velocity resolution and excellent timbre).

[Mark Schmieder]

I've been too slammed this week to really work with Elektrik Piano 1.5 enough yet to make a judgement (though it is clearly a huge step up from version 1), but I listened to the newest Scarbee demos tonight and am truly blown away by the Rhodes and the Pianet, and am very impressed by the Clavinet as well but less so with the Wurly (it sounds a bit thin in the MP3's).

 

ALL of the Scarbee demos sound very fluid and realistic in terms of sample layer switching and connectedness of notes. Too bad they don't have program demos to download and try out. I'm also confused by the packaging, in terms of the bundles, as they don't seem to include the Wurly.

[Calumet]

I am looking to sell my SRX-12 card. Anyone interested? I would also be willing to trade it for an SRX-07, Ulitmate Keys card.

 

 

[Jazz+]

Have you played a SRX-07? I sold mine the week I got it.

[Nordude]

Actually, something bothers me (that's why I kick this old thread again).

 

The Wurly on my SRX-12 sounds distorted (for lack of a better term). I can discern a Wurlitzer, but a noisy one, as if it's been beaten up or something.

Because I had read more negative reviews of the SRX-12 Wurly, I never paid any attention to it, also because the Rhodes (both "EP1" and "EP2") and Clavs sound excellent.

 

This evening, I listened to the Flash SRX-demo on the Roland US site, which features two Wutly patches (no 5 Soft Wurly and no 6 Pure Wurly, or something like that). And those patches seem less noisy/distorted than the ones from my Fantom X7. I used the card before in my Fantom S and with the same result, so host hardware isn't likely to be a problem.

 

Again, the Rhodes and Clav sound excellent and I got no other problems whatsoever.

 

Is this just a matter of bad (or more politely: alternative) sampling?

Or could this be a defect of my particular SRX-card?

 

Have more people encountered this?

[Jazz+]

I don't know if it's noisy or not but I find the SRX-12 Wurlitzer so poor sounding that the issue of noise is irrelevant for me. By the way I am happily using the Rhodes and piano in my FP4 now for live gigs and have shelved the SRX-12. I might try my SRX-12 and SR-11 cards in SonicCell when it starts shipping.

[Piano4U]

By the way I am happily using the Rhodes and piano in my FP4 now for live gigs and have shelved the SRX-12.

 

That's exactly what I wanted to hear, thanks!

[gzurkan]

I also agree the wurlies on the SRX-12 are disappointing. I found that layering the wurly from the SRX-07 (keys from the 60s & 70s) with the SRX-12 wurly and creating a performance I end up with a usable one.

 

 

[Nordude]

Thanks for the replies, but my question still remains:

is the verdict of "poorness" the same as saying it is noisy/distorted, or am I the only one who has that noise/distortion?

 

Again a BTW remark: the card has a great, great Rhodes and Clav, would re-recommend the card in a heartbeat for those sounds!

[gzurkan]

It's distorted, especially at higher velocities. It's horrible compared to the rhodes and clav samples which I love and use as well. I don't know what Roland was thinking providing those samples. I use an ancient XV-88.

[Calumet]

Its distorted. Its unusable.

 

[Kayvon]

Yep, distortion here as well. I don't use the fourth layer on the Wurly and even then I only use the other layers in a multi with a Hammond patch. The main thing I don't like about the SRX-12 Wurly is that the attack sounds crummy.

[burningbusch]

The Wurly can be made much better by losing the FF layer as Kayvon suggests. For that matter, I don't use the FF layer on the Rhodes either, only because they make it too jumpy. Still a three velocity EP is as good or better than anything else out there in the hardware world. The other thing that adds to the odd sound of the Wurly is the pitch envelope on the release of the note. All of the SRX-12 EP patches incorporate this (as far as I've found). With the Rhodes, it gives it a certain autenticity, though I like it in the lower register and not in the upper. I don't like it at all with on the Wurly. To my ear it sounds best with no pitch envelope applied. Change the setting from 12 to 0. I would again agree with Kayvon that the attack is more troublesome. Perhaps a light compressor would help though I haven't tried it myself. The distortion is less an issue for me. I almost always use mild distortion/overdrive on Wurly sims. I don't know what a clean Wurly sounds like. I suppose it's something like a clean B3??? I've always felt the SRX-12 Wurly is from an early EP. More along the lines of "That's What I Say."

 

I have been work with the clavs on the SRX12 in my Fantom XR. I really feel I've gotten them to the point where they respond and sound better than anything out there--yes including the Electros. They have the dynamic range of a real clav and a more accurate tone then what you're going to find in the presets. They sound amazingly good to my ear.

 

I plan on transferring my XR presets to the SonicCell when it comes out. I'm quite sure it will be my preferred vehicle for the SRX-12.

 

Busch.

[lowerhodes]

Does anyone know when the SonicCell will be available and how much $ ?

[Kayvon]

The other thing that adds to the odd sound of the Wurly is the pitch envelope on the release of the note. All of the SRX-12 EP patches incorporate this (as far as I've found). With the Rhodes, it gives it a certain autenticity, though I like it in the lower register and not in the upper. I don't like it at all with on the Wurly. To my ear it sounds best with no pitch envelope applied. Change the setting from 12 to 0.

 

Thanks for the tip, I shall have a go at changing that one.

 

The clavs are great aren't they, i'd really love to have the option of easily and quickly choosing all the pick up/eq settings like on the Fantom X keyboard series.

 

The SonicCell looks nice but i'm waiting to see how easy the front panel editing is gonna be.

[Jazz+]

SonicCell editing will be done on a computer connected to it with USB.